A friend pointed me in the direction of the 3-day potty training system, so I stayed up late reading the book last night and want you to know that even before I woke up this morning, I was skeptical. One, I don't think I have the focus this is going to take. I'm not ADD or anything, but watching Elsie's *every* move for 72 hours is really more than I can bear. Two, I'm not perky enough to pep up a toddler. I mean, I tried, but she saw through it, telling me, "You're not so happy." I took that to mean, "You're faking it, Mom." Dang it.
Anyway, this is Day 1. I'm going to give it a full three-day shot.
We ate breakfast this morning and then I put Elsie in a tank top and panties, and I told her to keep them dry, and that she needed to tell me when she needed to use the potty. We played upstairs in the morning, and then next door in the afternoon when Oscar woke up from a nap. Yeah, Elsie didn't nap today. And I'm the failure here, I'm sure. Not Elsie. So, here's the recap of how the day went:
8:00 am -- Put Elsie in panties.
10:30 a.m. -- Accident (pee) while playing in her bedroom, while wearing three additional pair of undies at her insistence. She yelled "Pee!" at me, but it was too late. I may have been otherwise distracted.
12:45 p.m. -- Accident (pee) while playing in downstairs bathroom sink. She also alerted me to this, after-the-fact. I was right outside the door. O was asleep, I was otherwise distracted.
2:30 p.m. -- PEE IN THE POTTY -- but only because I told her we wouldn't go next door until she used the potty. And she peed a lot. I thought we would be good for another two hours or so, since this was her pattern heretofore. Oops.
4:00 p.m. -- Accident (pee) while playing at the neighbors. The irony was I was looking right at her taking a picture of her playing with our neighbor to send to Eli and had no idea. Right on the linoleum. This is how I know this is a mommy fail. See the picture? I'm a nitwit.
EDITED TO ADD: That is a plastic hot dog on the floor to the left. Thank you, Dad, for requiring clarification.
[And I feel I must clarify here that a child peeing on the linoleum is not a big deal next door, since the other cutie in the picture is also potty training right now..]
5:50 p.m. -- Accident (pee) after dinner at the neighbors'. She was in the living room and yelled to me that "I have a poopy diaper!" Um, you're not wearing a diaper. Oh, crud. Turns out it was pee. It was just a little bit, didn't get on the carpet or anything. But it was a killer for morale. [Right here I should mention that I'm wearing my AmeriCorps hoodie today with the pocket full of M&Ms and spare panties so that I'm prepared whether we are upstairs, downstairs, or next door.]
7:00 p.m. -- PEE IN THE POTTY -- Elsie is actually still in the tub, and I'm rocking Oscar to calm down the maniacal screaming that commenced the second I took him from the bathtub and continued while I diapered and jammied him up. Elsie gets quiet and starts grunting. I nicely throw O into the crib and rush in there, and she is hunched over, concentrating. I snatch her up and put her on the potty, wrap her with a towel, and she pees a lot. Grunts a little, passes a little gas. But nothing else.
By 7:37 p.m. she was asleep in her panties and pajamas on my bed. She wanted me to hold her hand as she went to sleep. It was small and warm, and it she was so sweet.
So, the plan is to wake her before 9 and have her potty again before putting her back in her own bed. And then I'll get up around five and put her on the potty and then put her back in bed. I'll have to set an alarm.
Anyway, she only asked to put on a diaper once today. She told me many times that she didn't want to go to the bathroom (many, many times I would tell her, "Don't forget to tell Mommy when you need to potty" and this was the response). And she told me a couple of times that she couldn't go to the bathroom. I'm not sure what this means.
Should I be concerned that she didn't have a BM today when she typically has several in a day? I don't know.
I'm glad I wrote down the details of our day because while I feel like a failure today, I think that armed with this information, I'll know more about what to look for tomorrow. I have no doubt that tomorrow will go much better than today. Positive thinking, people. Positive thinking!!
Cheers.
UPDATE *9:00 p.m.* moved Elsie to her own bed with a pit stop at the bathroom. Nothing but big, wet tears. Setting alarm for 5 a.m.
UPDATE -- Go Here for Day 2 Recap.
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